Cayetano Medina

Adjusted expectations, satisfaction and loyalty development

The primary contribution of this article is an analysis of the influence of the use of individuals expectations about a service consumption on the behavior models, that examine the process according to which loyalty and satisfaction are generated. More specifically, the research examines the implications of considering adjusted expectations, namely those that tourists have after having visited a destination, rather than those expectations they may have prior to their visit. By developing structural equations, the research verifies that the use of adjusted expectations modifies the chain of causal relationships described in the cognitive–affective explanatory models for tourist satisfaction and loyalty.

The mediating effect of innovation in the relationship between retailers' strategic orientations and performance

Purpose – This research focuses on the effects that three different strategic orientations have on firm performance in the specific domain of retailing. The paper also aims to deal with the mediating role that innovation plays in this relationship.Design/methodology/approach – Component analysis is used to find out which factors really build up each of the constructs involved. In order to analyze the convergence of the model a confirmatory factor analysis is performed by means of a structural equation model based on LISREL 8.54 technique.Findings – From the 244 responses the results show that market driving proved to be a strong predictor of performance in addition to innovation acting as a mediator between strategic orientations in retailers and business performance.Research limitations/implications – In a future research it would be advisable to include supplier and customer perceptions of the strategic orientation carried on by retailing firms. The study of different innovation categories should also b...

Building trust and commitment to blogs

Building trust and commitment among a local politicians blog visitors may lead them to revisit the blog, to recommend it, or to give preference to the blog above all others. This study analyzes the role of different variables in building trust and commitment in online environments. In order to do so, it extends the behavior of the relationship quality model to the realm of political blogs, including two additional variables that can have an effect on building trust and commitment: attachment and distrust. After applying the model to a sample of political representatives operating at a local level in Spain, we were able to confirm the behavior of relationship quality, observing that satisfaction and commitment are both related directly to and mediated by trust. We were also able to confirm the significant impact of attachment on satisfaction and commitment, whereas we found no significant relationship between attachment and trust or between distrust and commitment. To further expand our knowledge of the variables included in the model, we also analyzed the relationships between trusting beliefs and the components of self-determination theory as antecedents of trust, distrust, and attachment.

Market delimitation, firm survival and growth in service industries

This article focuses on the effect of both firm survival and market delimitation on stochastic growth behaviour in the realm of service industries. Two samples of firms were selected for the study, one of them representing the surviving firm population in the tourism industry and the other one representing the firm total. The activity of firms was used for measuring the influence of market delimitation. Stochastic growth behaviour is found to hold for the sector as a whole, whereas it does not do so for the population of surviving firms. Market delimitation is also observed to influence growth behaviour, but only when combined with firm survival.

Transparency policy and students’ satisfaction and trust

Purpose – This paper aims to analyse the effectiveness of the transparency policy carried out by a public university in terms of the impact on students’ satisfaction and trust. The loss of trust suffered by public institutions means that they are trying to identify the existing formulae so that this can be restored, and this includes transparency. In universities, certain changes in their situation mean that the demand for transparency policies is even greater. Design/methodology/approach – To carry out the transparency survey, data were collected using 6,180 valid questionnaires among the degree, postgraduate and continuing education students of the UNED. The statistical behaviour of the constructs included in the model was analysed by developing the structural equation model with SmartPLS. Findings – The results of this research show that transparency does have both a direct effect on trust and an indirect effect that is mediated by satisfaction. This latter indirect effect comes out stronger than the d...

Social Network Sites as a Moderating Factor in E-Learning Platform Adoption: An Extension

The use of Social Network Sites (SNS), and the improvements gained from new technologies through e-learning platforms are two of the main topics that are currently discussed in the area of higher education. Acquiring a better understanding of e-Learning platform adoption requires the addition of new antecedents to prevailing models and an analysis of their interrelations with other information and communication technologies. Web 2.0 and SNS are of particular significance in this connection. This paper attempts to determine the validity of the antecedents posited by Chan et al. (2010) in the field of e-Learning and the moderating role that SNS use may play in platform adoption. The influence of awareness, self-efficacy, convenience and assistance as antecedents of the components of the adoption model is determined; it is further found that SNS use has a moderating effect on the relationship between the intention to use the platform and its posited antecedents.